Review: Ben & Jerry's Save Our Swirled Ice Cream

So we all know Ben & Jerry's can get creative with their names and my numerous reviews have shown that.  What some of us know, but not all know, is that Ben & Jerry's is also a very socially and politically active company that advocates many causes such as world peace, climate initiatives, etc.  Today's review of this pint of Ben & Jerry's Save Our Swirled Ice Cream is a flavor that they've put out to raise awareness of their Climate Movement.  In order to do that, they've even put a cute missive on the flavor's webpage that states "SOS! It’s more than just a call to action: it’s a swirled-class flavor you can’t resist, and a climate change message you can’t ignore. If it’s melted, it’s ruined."  I'll refrain from commenting on the issue itself (there's more detail on the site and also in my link above), but I can appreciate the creativity in the name and that brief missive.  Anyway, the pint itself is the typical four half-cup servings and each serving is a somewhat economical (for Ben & Jerry's) 250 calories per serving.  I picked this up on closeout at Kroger for $2.74, so I'm not sure how much longer it'll be on the shelves or if it is being transitioned out already.

Review: Edy's (Dreyer's) Grand Cinnamon Bun Fun! Ice Cream

We are getting close to wrapping up summer (it was in the 50s here yesterday morning!) and for the most part, I've done a decent job staying away from ice cream this summer compared to prior summers.  Now, chocolate chip cookies are something entirely different, but that's a story for a different day.  Anyway, a recent sale and coupon at Marsh (along with a chance at more Marsh Monopoly game pieces) prompted me to add to my Edy's review collection and pick up this 1.5 quart container of Edy's (Dreyer's) Grand Cinnamon Bun Fun! Ice Cream for $3.00 (with coupon).  It's a limited edition out of their "Bakery Treats" line, so I'm not sure how long this will actually be out there (it might be gone from most places already!).  Each container has twelve servings and each half-cup size serving is 160 calories, so it's not terribly bad from a caloric perspective.

Review: Skinny Cow Triple Chocolate Ripple Low Fat Ice Cream Bars

I've been shying away from Skinny Cow product reviews because their flavors have gone stale and because their products are just too expensive to buy on a regular basis.  On a recent trip to Kroger, not only was I met with a sale but I was also met with some new flavors of products in their low fat ice cream bar line.  One of those products was this box of five Skinny Cow Triple Chocolate Ripple Low Fat Ice Cream Bars that I was able to pick up for $2.99 on sale, which is a pretty solid price for Skinny Cow products.  Typically, they run $4-5.  Anyway, each bar in the box is 2.65 fluid ounces and comes in at 170 calories per bar.

Review: Klondike Cookie Dough Swirl Ice Cream Bars

I've developed a fascination with Klondike bars recently and while I've reviewed them sporadically on the blog in the past, I'd never really fully adopted them until recently.  Now, I can't get enough of them and anytime they go on sale at the store, I snatch up a package.  During a recent sale event at Kroger, I saw they had packages of six of them on sale for $2.00 AND that there was a new flavor with this package of Klondike Cookie Dough Swirl Ice Cream Bars that I was able to pick up.  Each bar is 3.3 fluid ounces (99 grams) and comes in at a fairly robust 300 calories.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core Ice Cream

So yeah, I eat a lot of Ben & Jerry's.  I've had over thirty flavors that I've done reviews for on this blog, but in the grand scheme of their flavors over the years, that's not a lot.  For one guy though, I think eating that many would probably put me outside the norm.  Comes with the territory as a reviewer, I guess.  Anyway, to add to the number of flavors that I've tried, I picked up a pint of this Ben & Jerry's Spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core Ice Cream on sale at Kroger for $2.99.  Each pint contains the customary four half-cup servings and each serving is a not-so-healthy 290 calories.

Also, I went into this pint thinking I had no idea what a Speculoos cookie was.  Apparently, I was wrong and I've reviewed something with speculoos before in a Haagen-Dazs review (oohh, a competitor!).  I guess it's hard to remember things when you eat such a variety and have done over one thousand reviews.  In my very weak defense, it was over two years ago and speculoos weren't even part of the name of the flavor.

Review: Ben & Jerry's The Tonight Dough Ice Cream

In my last couple ice cream posts, I've tried to convince myself that I've been trying to be healthier recently and avoid buying ice cream.  In this post, I'm not even going to try and I'll just admit that I've fallen off the wagon and have buying ice cream again.  Part of it is because summer is approaching and the warmer weather makes me want to eat frozen treats, but another part of it is that I've dropped a bit too much weight and I need to put a couple pounds back on.  With that, I picked up this pint of Ben & Jerry's The Tonight Dough Ice Cream to add to my illustrious review catalog.  I picked this one up on sale at Kroger for $2.99 and each pint has the typical four half-cup servings at a robust 310 calories per serving.  Yikes.  It's a treat, I guess.

One more thing before I get into the review...it irritates me that this is the second ice cream flavor that Ben & Jerry's has done with Jimmy Fallon.  He was okay on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, but outside of that, I find him particularly annoying.  I know he's supposedly doing a decent job with The Tonight Show from what I've heard, but I think his playing games with guests is just plain stupid.  Also, The Tonight Show is stupid and has been since Johnny Carson left.  I'm a David Letterman guy (he goes out this week and I'm going to miss him) and hate Jay Leno, so ever since that shift, I've hated The Tonight Show.  Okay, that's a diatribe that this blog didn't need, but I'm taking a little editorial freedom here.  Anyway, now that my whining and rambling is over, let's dive into the review!

Review: Magnum Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars

I don't spend a lot of time looking at the Magnum ice cream bars in my grocer's freezer case.  Most of the time, I've found that they are pretty good, they bore me in general.  Not sure why, but they just do and that's one of the many reasons why I haven't looked at one in over a year.  Anyway, from time to time, I meander through the freezer section and a new Magnum product jumps out at me.  That's what happened when I was meandering through the Kroger freezer section and saw this box of three Magnum Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars sitting there at a sale price of $2.99.  I should also mention that I don't buy a lot of Magnum bars because they generally are more expensive than I'd like but at the aforementioned price along with a coupon for $0.75 off, the price was just right!  Anyway, each bar in the box is 340 calories and weighs in at 3.38 fluid ounces.

Review: Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Ice Cream Bars

I've harped on it many times here, but sales make me do funny things.  They cause me to buy products I'd never consider buying just because the price looks attractive to me.  Ultimately, isn't that what the store is hoping I'll do though?  They are looking at the opportunity cost of getting someone to buy a product for the first time and then the lifetime value of the person if they like the product and will thus buy again.  I look at that kind of stuff in my job all the time, so it absolutely makes sense and it's both funny and depressing that I fell victim to that trick when I picked up this box of six Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Ice Cream Bars at Meijer for $1.99.  It's not my first Good Humor review, but it is once that I approach with a sense of humor (boy, I'm a great writer in my ability to tie that in) based on what I've already described.  Putting my self-congratulations aside, each ice cream bar in this box comes in at 3.0 ounces and has 210 calories of light ice cream fun.

Review: Klondike Kandy Fudge Krunch Ice Cream Bars

I mentioned in my previous Klondike review that Meijer basically dared me into buying a bunch of Klondike products with a sale that they were running.  Falling victim to that dare once again, I picked up a box of these four Klondike Kandy Fudge Krunch Ice Cream Bars in the same sale for $1.99.  As you can see by the name of these bars, Klondike is quite fond of the letter "K" as they use it three times in the product name, two of which are attempts at being cute and are completely unnecessary.  Oh well, if that "K" is part of your brand strategy, then I guess I get it since I work in marketing too and understand the desire/need to have a way to make yourself stand out.  Anyway, each bar in this box of four weighs in at 2.75 ounces and has 180 calories of light ice cream fun.

Review: Klondike Rocky Road Ice Cream Bars

I haven't spent a lot of time looking at Klondike bars here on the blog because frankly, I'm not a huge ice cream bar guy.  I like them, but I devour them way too quickly (multiples at once) and as a way to try to control myself, I do my best not to keep them in my freezer.  Every now and then though, one of my local stores will offer a sale where they basically dare me to buy them and that's what Meijer did and it led me to pick up this package of six Klondike Rocky Road Ice Cream Bars for $1.99.  Each of the six bars is 2.7 ounces and checks in at 230 calories, so you can see how I'd worry about these since I'm fully capable of eating multiples of these in one sitting and that's a huge calorie intake if done.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core Ice Cream

After hitting Ben & Jerry's hard in the early review history of the blog, reviews have become sporadic over the last year or so as I've tried to become better about how much ice cream that I eat.  Now, I'm far from perfect, so every now and then I'll "slip" and go out and buy a container of ice cream just to fill a craving.  These so-called cravings are often prompted by sales and that's what happened in the case of today's review as Meijer was selling this pint of Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core Ice Cream for $2.99.  I also had a digital coupon that knocked $1.50 off of that, so I was getting a huge deal.  Being the bargain hunter that I am, you can see how I'd manufacture a craving in  my head now, don't you?  Ben & Jerry's introduced these Core products a while ago, but since I've been controlling myself better, today's review is only my second foray into that product line.  This pint is the typical four half-cup servings and clocks in at 270 calories per serving.

Review: Baskin Robbins Pralines 'N Cream Ice Cream

When I was a kid in the 1980s growing up in the Indianapolis area, there were a fair amount of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins stores.  For whatever reason, both of them (same company) decided to abandon the area throughout the 90s and only over the past five years or so have each of them started to come back to the area in sporadic locations.  None are near my house, which is probably a good thing for my waistline, but I've noticed recently that they've started introducing "pints" (actually fourteen ounces) of their classic ice cream flavors in my local Meijer store, probably for people like me that aren't near their Baskin Robbins ice cream shops.  Apparently these came out this past May and on a recent trip, I was armed with my ever-present coupon and decided to pick up a container of this Baskin Robbins Pralines 'N Cream Ice Cream at the sale price of $3.00 (plus my $1.00 digital coupon).  Each container is 3.5 half-cup servings and each serving is 220 calories.

Review: Klondike Kandy Caramel & Peanuts Ice Cream Bars

Despite the fact that I've reviewed plenty of them on the blog, including some Klondike bars, I generally stay away form purchasing ice cream bars.  I'm more of a grab a spoon and eat straight out of the ice cream container kind of guy, but occasionally a coupon and/or crazy sale will lead me to buy a box of ice cream bars and that's where we are today.  Meijer was running a sale and also had a digital coupon that allowed me to pick up a box of these Klondike Kandy Caramel &Peanuts Ice Cream Bars for $2.00 (I think they were usually around $4.50) and each box has four bars that check in at 2.75 fluid ounces.  Each bar is also 200 calories of caramel, peanut and light vanilla ice cream, so the fact that "light" is included in their somewhere makes this a diet product, right?  Okay, probably not.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie Ice Cream

So, I like candy bars, I like pies and I like ice cream.  When I see something that combines all of those, it would seem like it would be the best of both worlds and something that I would absolutely pick up, right?  Well, on the other hand, I don't like my waist line expanding and as I mentioned in my last Ben & Jerry's review, I've been trying to stay away from their products recently in order to maintain a semi-healthy diet.  But, as I also mentioned in that review, every now and then I just can't resist when I see a sale combined with a coupon and that's what Kroger did to me and that led me to pick up this pint of limited batch Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie Ice Cream on sale for $3.99 (plus a $1.00 off coupon).  This pint is the standard four half-cup servings and comes in a decidedly unhealthy 300 calories per serving.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Fudge Core Ice Cream

I've been trying to stay away from Ben & Jerry's for the most part in the recent months as I've been trying to do a better job of controlling my ice cream binges.  I've mostly been doing a fairly solid job, but every now and then one of my local stores will have a sale AND throw a coupon into their iPhone app that is pretty much just begging me to pick up a Ben & Jerry's product for another review and that's what happened with the source of today's review as I was able to pick up this pint of Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Fudge Core Ice Cream on sale for $3.00 (plus a $1.00 off coupon) at Meijer.  Each pint contains the typical four half-cup servings and each serving is a decidedly unhealthy 300 calories.  This is the first time I've looked at one of these Core products that are predicated on shooting an injection of a particular ingredient (fudge in this case) right down the middle of the pint in order to make this seem like it is two different ice creams.  Interesting idea, but interesting ideas don't always make good products.

Review: Magnum Infinity Chocolate Ice Cream Bars

I mentioned in my previous Magnum Infinity review that these kind of sneakily appeared in my local Kroger's freezer case.  They are dark chocolate bars, so I guess that is what makes them Infinity?  Who knows.  Anyway, I picked up this box of three Magnum Infinity Chocolate Ice Cream Bars on sale for $2.99 and each bar is 3.38 fluid ounces and a semi-respectable (compared to many premium ice cream bars), but definitely not healthy, 260 calories.

Review: Magnum Infinity Chocolate & Raspberry Ice Cream Bars

I've been trying my best to stay away from the ice cream portion of the freezer section of my store for the past few months because I have an unhealthy infatuation with ice cream and I'm trying to keep myself under control.  In a moment of weakness on a recent visit to Kroger, I strolled through that section and saw that Magnum has some new products that I've never reviewed before, so I grabbed a box of three of these Magnum Infinity Chocolate & Raspberry Ice Cream Bars on sale for $2.99.  Each bar in the box comes in at 3.38 fluid ounces ounces and has 260 calories, so while not a total belly buster, it's not exactly a healthy treat despite the presence of the famed dark chocolate.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream

I will be the first to admit that I enjoy movies that are really stupid (in a funny way) and the Anchorman movies definitely fit that bill.  As part of the publicity of Anchorman 2 coming out in the past several months, Ben & Jerry's released a limited batch flavor called Ben & Jerry's Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream that is clearly based on the little ditty sung by Ron Burgundy in the first Anchorman movie.  I picked up this pint to add to my Ben & Jerry's review archive for $2.49 in a killer sale at Kroger and each half-cup serving in this pint clocks in at 280 calories.  I've come to become a lover of butterscotch later in life, so I was very curious to see how this one would turn out in the end despite the fact that I'm a little late to the party in getting to review this one, but that's not entirely my fault.  I love living in Indiana (this past winter notwithstanding), but one of the drawbacks of living here is that it sometimes takes a while for products to make their way to our local stores.  This flavor is one of those products as I've been looking for this for the past few months but FINALLY saw it pop up on a visit this past weekend.

Review: Blue Bell Orange Swirl Ice Cream

I recently visited a  local Brewfest and let's just say that I enjoyed the "tasting" opportunities that the festival presented me.  I enjoyed them so much that I had a throat that felt very raw the next day, so I went out to my local Marsh store to grab a bit of something cold that would make my throat feel better and that led me to pick up a Blue Bell flavor that I had not reviewed previously.  Upon reviewing their website, I saw that this pint of Blue Bell Orange Swirl Ice Cream is a seasonal offering, so that would go a long way toward describing why I've never seen it before.  As with all pints, this one contained four half-cup servings and each serving was a fairly limiting 140 calories, so it's not truly a belt buster. 

Review: Private Selection Sweet Honey Baklava Ice Cream

What I find interesting about these Private Selection ice creams that I've been focusing on is that the back of each container contains some cross-selling to other Private Selection products.  All of them state that I should pair this with some Private Selection coffee and after continually reading that and shaking my head, I finally found a flavor that the coffee pairing would make sense with in this pint of Private Selection Sweet Honey Baklava Ice Cream.  Modeled after the Greek pastry treat, this pint set me back (I use that phrase very loosely) $0.99 in a mega sale event.  As per usual, each pint is four half-cup servings and each serving comes in at 220 calories.